Robbery, turned property dispute!?!?!

I watched Judge Judy once. The case was about a tattoo that got infected. The plaintiff insisted that it was the artist's fault. The artist insisted that the plaintiff must have not followed their aftercare instructions during the healing period. The plaintiff had an "expert" medical witness, an EMT, who testified that the infection was not caused by improper care but rather by dirty equipment (anyone who is an EMT or who knows the scope of their work is probably banging their head against the wall right now). Judge Judy ruled for the plaintiff based on the expert witness testimony and the fact that no one would ever knowingly not take care themselves properly and allow an infection to set in, just about screaming this to the defendant.

I didn't feel the need to watch any more after that.

I prefer The People's Court. Judge Judy dismisses a lot of "evidence" because she's in a bad mood. Judge Marilyn Millian allows hearsay and JJ doesn't...still can't figure out why that is for either show.

kibbegirl said:

...still can't figure out why that is for either show.



Let's remember that Judge Judy and People's Court are TV shows and not real courtrooms.


I love Judge Judy! It's my guilty pleasure. I don't watch a lot of TV, especially daytime, but I do love that show...

maybe my mother isnt worng at all! I should watch it with her grin

lindajpetrosgouin said:

maybe my mother isnt worng at all! I should watch it with her grin


Of course your mom isn't wrong! :-D

Years ago I had to sue my cousin's husband for lack of payment for services. I filed originally in his county. Shortly after I filed, I received a letter from The People's Court asking if I would like to persue this on their show. I declined but I did end up getting my payment finally from him through small claims in Maplewood. I think they go through court docs and see what would be juicy for their shows.

blackcat said:

Years ago I had to sue my cousin's husband for lack of payment for services. I filed originally in his county. Shortly after I filed, I received a letter from The People's Court asking if I would like to persue this on their show. I declined but I did end up getting my payment finally from him through small claims in Maplewood. I think they go through court docs and see what would be juicy for their shows.


^ Yes ^

This happened to Mr. Kibbegirl and I when we had a tenant dispute (we were the landlords and they wanted, no, DEMANDED their security back after destroying a great deal of our home). We declined to be on tv. Can you imagine? We won via a mediator who was incredibly knowledgable and fair.

Judge Judy and I were in the same bunk at camp when we were both 14. She was pretty much the same then as she is now. We have not kept in contact.

blackcat said:

Years ago I had to sue my cousin's husband for lack of payment for services. I filed originally in his county. Shortly after I filed, I received a letter from The People's Court asking if I would like to persue this on their show. I declined but I did end up getting my payment finally from him through small claims in Maplewood. I think they go through court docs and see what would be juicy for their shows.


Small Claims Court is part of the State Superior Court system. You would have to have gone to Court in Newark, not Maplewood.


marylago said:

lindajpetrosgouin said:

maybe my mother isnt worng at all! I should watch it with her grin


Of course your mom isn't wrong! :-D


ahhh, my mother warned me about the person who stole from me, had a bad feeling from the day one! even in my fourties I should take my mom's advice! grin

thats it, Im going to start watching judge judy! (maybe)

LOST said:

blackcat said:

Years ago I had to sue my cousin's husband for lack of payment for services. I filed originally in his county. Shortly after I filed, I received a letter from The People's Court asking if I would like to persue this on their show. I declined but I did end up getting my payment finally from him through small claims in Maplewood. I think they go through court docs and see what would be juicy for their shows.


Small Claims Court is part of the State Superior Court system. You would have to have gone to Court in Newark, not Maplewood.


He lived in Princeton and I filed somewhere down there to get a judgement against him. Though we got the judgement, it still didn't get me the money owed. I filed in Maplewood since that was where my business was located, pertaining to the service provided. This was at least 15 or more years ago.

lizziecat said:

Judge Judy and I were in the same bunk at camp when we were both 14. She was pretty much the same then as she is now. We have not kept in contact.


Oh, I can understand that!

I'm still confused with this posting. Firstly, the title is misleading as there is no such thing as a house robbery. homes don't get robbed, people get robbed. Homes are burglarized or stolen from. Secondly, the OP is not clear as to the circumstances. Though there are a plethora of scenarios I'll offer two:

1) A home, unoccupied, gets broken into by a stranger, a thief whose livelihood depends on breaking and entering. Somehow you find out who this person is and compile evidence which includes witnesses and documents. All this is brought forward by the victim (and not police?) but the court ignores it, dismisses the victim.

2) A person known to the homeowner somehow comes into possession of property owned, at one point, by said homeowner. This person can be an (ex)friend, family member, perhaps and (ex)boyfriend/girlfriend, nanny or house cleaner. This person, whether correctly or incorrectly, takes possession of something and is able to articulate tat they believed they had the right to. Maybe at one point the homeowner eluded to allowing them to have it, perhaps there was a work arrangement where the person thought the item(s) in question were in lieu of payments. This person then explains this stop the court and even if they are 100% wrong in the eyes of the victim, they are able to cast doubt in the eyes of the court.

Now, those are completely made up (not that I haven't seen the latter happen) and of course there are a thousand other possibilities in between but I just can't grasp this event happened as simply and plainly as the OP describes. Also, if you choose to bring forward to the court a case where all you seek is in return is money, then it can not be done in Maplewood. If you are a victim of a theft and the police bring the case (in Maplewood) and the person is convicted then there is possibility of this local judge imposing some sort of restitution.

In any event, I'm sorry the OP is dealing with whatever BS this is and hope it gets rectified eventually.

lizziecat said:

Judge Judy and I were in the same bunk at camp when we were both 14. She was pretty much the same then as she is now. We have not kept in contact.

What I'd give to see a young, bossy Judy back in the day. Hilarious!

ace789nj said:

I'm still confused with this posting. Firstly, the title is misleading as there is no such thing as a house robbery. homes don't get robbed, people get robbed. Homes are burglarized or stolen from. Secondly, the OP is not clear as to the circumstances.

oh opps, until reading this correction I didnt know the difference. tongue wink

I know the person who did this.... said person came onto my property and stole tools from my garage. Important to note that my garage is only acceptable through the house, or over a six foot fence. To get to the garage one must either break through a locked and chained gate, break into my house and go through my kitchen door out to the back, or jump a six foot fence.

The main points for me:

The person admitted, in front of the prosecutor, that he was last on my property in late October. He came with my permission to retrieve one of his belongings. No harm, no foul here.

He also admitted he was in possession of (only one of) my tools. As for the rest, he claims ignorance.

I have witnesses who are willing to testify to the fact that my tools were in my garage in November. Another handy man used them, my son used them and a family friend used them. each willing to submit a signed sworn statement and/or to speak in court.

So, I’m begging the question, how did he get them? Prosecutor in Maplewood thinks that is irrelevant as long as I got the one tool back that he admitted to having.

The prosecutor point blank refused to look at any documents I had. Flat out refused to hear witnesses. I had receipts, emails, printed out text messages, etc. I came thoughtfully prepared. She said that because I knew him it would be too hard to prosecute. She said that because I was cordial to his mother (she came with him) that was a sign to her that he need not be prosecuted. Sounds unreal, right? Totally freaking was!!! It was the damn twilight zone! PS I told his mama that she was doing him a gross injustice to continually turn a blind eye when he did wrong. And that I know she knows damn well that he did wrong here. She teared up but said nothing.

So, back to my lesson, in Maplewood, if you steal from someone you know but give a least some of it back then nothing will happen to you. Crappy lesson to learn.

At the end of court, a police officer walked out to the car with us so he could witness the one item being retuned and after the exchange and after the officer waked away, this person who stole from me said to me, with chest puffed up, "HA! You and that stupid bitch, I told you nothing would happen to me!" I suppose he meant the prosecutor...

My fear is this... the Maplewood court sent the message that what he did is perfectly fine. There are absolutely no consequences for coming into my yard / my garage / my home without permission. Which means, he will likely do something *****ty like this again. I say that with confidence because my complaint against him is only one of three in our town...

oh opps, until reading this correction I didnt know the difference.

I know the person who did this.... said person came onto my property and stole tools from my garage. Important to note that my garage is only acceptable through the house, or over a six foot fence. To get to the garage one must either break through a locked and chained gate, break into my house and go through my kitchen door out to the back, or jump a six foot fence.

The main points for me:

The person admitted, in front of the prosecutor, that he was last on my property in late October. He came with my permission to retrieve one of his belongings. No harm, no foul here.

He also admitted he was in possession of (only one of) my tools. As for the rest, he claims ignorance.

I have witnesses who are willing to testify to the fact that my tools were in my garage in November. Another handy man used them, my son used them and a family friend used them. each willing to submit a signed sworn statement and/or to speak in court.

So, I’m begging the question, how did he get them? Prosecutor in Maplewood thinks that is irrelevant as long as I got the one tool back that he admitted to having.

The prosecutor point blank refused to look at any documents I had. Flat out refused to hear witnesses. I had receipts, emails, printed out text messages, etc. I came thoughtfully prepared. She said that because I knew him it would be too hard to prosecute. She said that because I was cordial to his mother (she came with him) that was a sign to her that he need not be prosecuted. Sounds unreal, right? Totally freaking was!!! It was the damn twilight zone! PS I told his mama that she was doing him a gross injustice to continually turn a blind eye when he did wrong. And that I know she knows damn well that he did wrong here. She teared up but said nothing.

So, back to my lesson, in Maplewood, if you steal from someone you know but give a least some of it back then nothing will happen to you. Crappy lesson to learn.

At the end of court, a police officer walked out to the car with us so he could witness the one item being retuned and after the exchange and after the officer waked away, this person who stole from me said to me, with chest puffed up, "HA! You and that stupid bitch, I told you nothing would happen to me!" I suppose he meant the prosecutor...

My fear is this... the Maplewood court sent the message that what he did is perfectly fine. There are absolutely no consequences for coming into my yard / my garage / my home without permission. Which means, he will likely do something *****ty like this again. I say that with confidence because my complaint against him is only one of three in our town...

Frank said:

Oy.


right?! Oy!

So, do I let it go and say such is life, *****ty things happen... or do I take a stand because it’s not ok and then the next person, who’s case is difficult and our over stretched court system would rather not deal, will hopefully have a better experience.

Part of me says yes! Take a stand, because frankly it shouldn’t be our problem if the court does not have the ability to effectively balance workload in order to maintain integrity! “We’re too busy / We’re overwhelmed” is not my problem…

My interpretation is that you are trying to pursue this through the wrong court. Go through small claims to try to get your tools back -- that seems to be the court that takes care of these types of 'you have my stuff' disputes.

For municipal court, my interpretation is that you need to charge him with a crime like burglary, and have proof that you were in fact burglarized. They seem to be saying your proof is not there. (If you didn't file a police report of a burglary after it happened, you may not be able to charge him.) Even if you can charge him with burglary, this may be the court that can sentence him... but probably still will not deal with getting your stuff back.

sprout said:

My interpretation is that you are trying to pursue this through the wrong court. Go through small claims to try to get your tools back -- that seems to be the court that takes care of these types of 'you have my stuff' disputes.

For municipal court, my interpretation is that you need to charge him with a crime like burglary, and have proof that you were in fact burglarized. They seem to be saying your proof is not there. (If you didn't file a police report of a burglary after it happened, you may not be able to charge him.) Even if you can charge him with burglary, this may be the court that can sentence him... but probably still will not deal with getting your stuff back.


I think the point is being missed... Its far more than a "I want my stuff back" point. Its a "you broke into / onto my property" point.

To the point on the "proof", it is there, the court never even looked at it to get thechance to make any determination as to its validity... and even beyond ignoring the proof, the obvious timeline was ignored... judge wanted to go home, prosecutor was clearly harried by 8pm.

Anyhow, I am in th process of filing formal complaint.

Did you file a police report after the burglary?

Did he claim the tools were his or that he didn't take them at all?

None of this makes any kind of sense. I can understand the court's lack of patience with it.

sprout, yes, I filed a report. but the fact that i know the person who stiole the items made it difficult to prosecute, hence they tossed it out.

joanauer, that he didnt take them at all, excpet for one.

frank, not sure whats confusing. feel free to private message me, happy to answer your questions directly.

lindajpetrosgouin said:



ahhh, my mother warned me about the person who stole from me, had a bad feeling from the day one! even in my fourties I should take my mom's advice! grin



So your mother knew him/her?

yes, my mom met him on a handful of occasions...

lindajpetrosgouin said:

sprout, yes, I filed a report. but the fact that i know the person who stiole the items made it difficult to prosecute, hence they tossed it out.


After you were burglarized, and you filed the report, did the police come to your house and take fingerprints? Was there breaking and entering?

nope, police did not come. I'll PM you a bit more, that Im not comfortable writing here.

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